Cheap 32GB SDHC?

[ToastBucket]

Found this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290510485324&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_1518wt_936


Seems much too cheap. Bought 2 anyway What are your thoughts. Is this likely just a scam?

 

[Tokiopop]

Most SD cards on eBay are fakes I'm afraid

 

[Tor]

Found this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290510485324&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_1518wt_936


Seems much too cheap. Bought 2 anyway What are your thoughts. Is this likely just a scam?

Very, very likely, yes. Don't buy this stuff on ebay. It's nearly always a scam. And if it's very cheap too, it's a certainty.

 

[ToastBucket]

By fake, do you mean this will only be like a 4GB card with a 32GB sticker slapped on it or something?

 

[- Theo -]

Very, very likely, yes. Don't buy this stuff on ebay. It's nearly always a scam. And if it's very cheap too, it's a certainty.

Most fakes I found on eBay are working fine. They're just a lot slower than the official ones. I've heard of fakes that report a wrong size (they say 32GB but you can only stick 256MB of data on them) but I've yet to find one.


I think for the difference in price, it's actually a good deal, including the risk of being ripped off. Just don't expect the same build quality as an official one and you shouldn't be disappointed.

 

[ToastBucket]

As long as it works I'm satisfied.

 

[Prometheus]

I've spent so much time on this subject over the last two-and-a-half years, and yet still the "As long it works fine..." attitude persists...

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but: It will not work fine, and you are very likely to lose your money on goods that are likely to be unusable, because they were probably originally destined to be trashed.


Let me give a quick run-down;


1: False-capacity fakes on eBay account for most flash-media sales on eBay. To my knowledge, there is no such thing as a fake that is true-capacity but simply slower and poorer-built than the real thing, because there isn't any profit in that.


2: Pretty much all fakes on eBay are made from very low-grade chips, and many will fail very quickly. They are NOT cards with the wrong sticker on - they are usually faulty hardware which was meant to be destroyed, which was retrieved before reaching the furnaces and sold on the black market. Fake flash-media has a controller-chip that has a known exploit. What is done is that the controller is hacked in order to make the card report a false size to the operating system. Of course, this results in the controller being unable to properly wear-level and so on, as well. It doesn't matter how much data you can put on it, it will very likely speedily die anyway*. There is no known easy way to restore a fake-capacity SD Card to its true capacity, and even so, you would never be able to trust it.


3: You will very likely lose your data and you will probably have a very hard time getting a refund. Genuine flash-media prices are currently falling again, and it is possible to get genuine 32GB cards for a realistic price now (if you're willing to settle for Class 2, you can get genuine 32GB cards at around £39.99 or so). Check Amazon, Amazon UK, Play.com, or Newegg.com (but I would advise avoiding third-parties selling through these sites, as a precaution). You cannot get 32GB of flash, plus controller hardware, casing, labels, packaging, and distribution for $12.90.


I would suggest visiting SOSFakeFlash, and searching for the name of your seller there - if it is not listed, please report the seller if or when you receive the goods and find that they're fake. I would also recommend reading this guide, because the auction listing you linked to appears to have all of the warning signs that most listings for fakes tend to have (look at all those asterisks!).


SOSFakeFlash also have resources relating to how to obtain a refund, and I have some further information linked in my signature - I wish you the best of luck.


*(If anyone has watched the Christmas movie "Mrs. Santa Claus", this reminds me of the "Tavish Toys" factory scene. )

 

[ToastBucket]

Wow. Thanks for the information. I just checked the list from that website and my seller's not listed. I will add it when I receive my item and confirm that it is in fact faulty.

 

[Prometheus]

^ Thankyou. Whilst I'm not associated with SOSFakeFlash (I'm just someone who thoroughly hates the injustice of people getting ripped off by convincing fakery, if that is indeed what the case is here), I very much appreciate it when people who do get a fake report in, because some of those who have been conned do eventually find out something is wrong, and many do find their way to SOSFakeFlash.


Bear in mind, though, that "faulty" is the wrong term here, as these things are deliberately made the way they are - the terms used tend to be fake-capacity (which is a fraudulent item, since it isn't what was advertised) if it's non-branded, and it's also counterfeit if you get a fake that is also masquerading as a brand-name product.


If or when you receive it, please use H2testw to test. Simply putting files on a fake will not do the job, as this method will appear to show the device working properly, since the controller in fake cards is behaving as though the space is really there, even though it isn't.

 

[ToastBucket]

they are usually faulty hardware which was meant to be destroyed

The picture of the card has a Sandisk label on it so I assumed that it was a faulty Sandisk card. And, if I were to get a class 2 card, how does that differ from a class 10 or something? Is it just read write speed? Is it a noticeable difference if I'm just using the card for music, movies, and games and such?

 

[Prometheus]

The picture of the card has a Sandisk label on it so I assumed that it was a faulty Sandisk card.

The picture doesn't necessarily correspond in these cases. The labels on brand-name-looking fakes (especially as far as SD Cards go) are quite often counterfeit, and the guts aren't what SanDisk would use.


What I mean when I mention faulty hardware is that the flash-chips themselves weren't up to standard, and were intended for disposal.

And, if I were to get a class 2 card, how does that differ from a class 10 or something? Is it just read write speed? Is it a noticeable difference if I'm just using the card for music, movies, and games and such?

The difference is in the writing speed, but the speed dictated by the class is just meant to be the minimum it can do - in my personal experience, they often exceed this under normal circumstances (your mileage may vary, though, as they say). If you're just using it for those things, I doubt you'll notice much of a difference, if any - you just might have to wait a bit longer when copying files to the card. My understanding is that you're more likely to notice the speed if you're booting an operating system from a slower card.

 

[DaMummy]

i still wonder how people on these forums get away with buying flash media on ebay when Prometheus is one of its main members....on the other hand, if the card passes the h2testw, please post findings so i can pick one up

 

[- Theo -]

i still wonder how people on these forums get away with buying flash media on ebay when Prometheus is one of its main members....on the other hand, if the card passes the h2testw, please post findings so i can pick one up

Once again, fake cards are incredibly cheaper. If you're ready to take the risk, accept that it may not work, and not expect a real official one with the level of service you could have from it, I say why not? Over the years, I bought maybe a dozen of such fakes, I have yet to find a really faulty one even after years of use (the only problem most of them seem to have is they're much slower, specially in write speed). Maybe I was lucky, but that saved me loads of £

 

[elwing]

Once again, fake cards are incredibly cheaper.

not anymore... they understood that they can gain more money selling 'em at a price nearer the original price and that it will at same time look less fake...

 

[Gren]

Once again, fake cards are incredibly cheaper. If you're ready to take the risk, accept that it may not work, and not expect a real official one with the level of service you could have from it, I say why not? Over the years, I bought maybe a dozen of such fakes, I have yet to find a really faulty one even after years of use (the only problem most of them seem to have is they're much slower, specially in write speed). Maybe I was lucky, but that saved me loads of £

I have 3 genuine magic beans for sale.


Only £1,000- to you guv.

 

[TrashyMG]

I have 3 genuine magic beans for sale.


Only £1,000- to you guv.

They're genuine that means it's got to be good.

 

[- Theo -]

I have 3 genuine magic beans for sale.


Only £1,000- to you guv.

I'm not sure they're cheaper than the official ones. If they were (and if you had at least 99.9% positive feedback on eBay), I would buy, definitely.

 

[neko]

From the auction...

Although this memory card is the same size and shape as regular SD card
it can only be used by devices designed for SDHC - High Capacity device.


This memory card is NOT COMPATIBLE with 90% of the devices currently on the market.


Ninety-nine percent of internal card readers (inside computers or laptops) CANNOT recognize and use this memory card.

In other words, 90% of these cards don't work because they are fake... LOL.

 

[Prometheus]

Once again, fake cards are incredibly cheaper. If you're ready to take the risk, accept that it may not work, and not expect a real official one with the level of service you could have from it, I say why not? Over the years, I bought maybe a dozen of such fakes, I have yet to find a really faulty one even after years of use (the only problem most of them seem to have is they're much slower, specially in write speed). Maybe I was lucky, but that saved me loads of £

You say "Why not?"? What you are suggesting here is quite simply that people should throw money away on fake goods that are not as advertised. I cannot just overlook this, especially in the current economic climate. This attitude is exactly why people keep getting conned and losing data that cannot be replaced - people keep viewing these things with the same attitude that they would use to approach a fake pair of Nikes or a fake handbag, and then encouraging the same view in others. The difference is that the fake shoes and handbag can actually work as shoes and a handbag.


The fakes are cheaper because they are not what the sellers are claiming they are - they simply cannot be genuine, because they are being sold at such a ridiculous loss. You seriously cannot get, for example, a genuine 64GB flash-drive (brand-name or generic) for less than $20 (USD), when it costs around that much to produce an 8GB flash-chip wholesale (without casing, controller, packaging, distribution, and so on, even included in that cost).


*PLEASE* stop claiming that the "only problem" that "most of them" have is lacking speed and poor build-quality, and please stop suggesting that it is worth the risk. This simply is not true, and it undermines the efforts of those of us who put our time into trying to prevent people from losing money and data when it could easily be avoided with a little bit of information. (Indeed, many here can vouch for the fact that I've been trying to raise awareness of these issues since I was a newbie over on the other forums. In March, I'll have been doing this for three years in this community, and I have been raising awareness outside of here since around 2005 or so.)


Have you even tested your fakes with H2testw...?

I'm not sure they're cheaper than the official ones. If they were (and if you had at least 99.9% positive feedback on eBay), I would buy, definitely.

Positive feedback means nothing (and leaving positive feedback for a fake helps in getting other people tricked into losing money and data, also), and it therefore cannot be trusted at all. This is because most people think that putting a couple of files on it proves that it works and is genuine, and therefore leave a positive feedback (another part of it is feedback-farming and padding using alternate IDs, and 1 US Cent items with free shipping). Then there are the folks who gladly assist in getting more people to buy fakes, by rolling over and revising negative feedback to positive, in order to try to get a refund...

From the auction...


In other words, 90% of these cards don't work because they are fake... LOL.

^ That just looks like a pasting-in of outdated information. The part about SDHC Cards not working in 90%-or-so of devices was true back when they first became available, and for at least a year afterward.

 

[second exodous]

For this reason I only buy SD cards from larger Internet stores. I've never bought fake memory but I've only bought from larger Internet stores.


The ONLY way on that you'll get a non fake card on ebay is if these are stolen in which case your are supporting crime more directly. Do you really want to support crime? I just wouldn't buy these and just spend the full amount somewhere else.